Trump critic to announce White House bid next week

PRINCETON, NJ — Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who advised Donald Trump’s White House campaign in 2016 only to become a vocal critic of the former president in recent months, will launch a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination next week, a person familiar with the matter said.

Christie, 60, enters the race as a decided underdog, six years after his 2016 presidential campaign failed to gain traction amid a crowded field that included Trump. Only 1% of Republicans said he would be their preferred 2024 nominee in a Reuters/ipsos poll conducted May 9-15.

Ending weeks of speculation about his intentions, Christie will officially launch his campaign at a town hall at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the person familiar with the matter said, confirming an earlier report by Axios.

Christie has urged his party to move on from Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged, including in his book “Republican Rescue.” That stance could theoretically earn him some support from moderate Republicans eager to turn the page, though it will alienate Trump’s stillpowerful base of voters.

In March, Christie told Axios he would not vote for Trump in 2024 even if the former president was the Republican nominee. Trump, who announced his campaign last year, leads among Republicans in public polling.

In public appearances, Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has argued he alone has the skill and willingness to go toe-totoe with the pugnacious Trump directly.